I’ve been speaking with another jeweler who works in silver, and she
told me that getting the registered hallmark and licensing to stamp
jewelry is very expensive here in Canada. It was about then that I
noticed that none of her work was advertised as being silver, nor
was it identified by any signature or signature marking.
Now, I want my work to be identifiable. I don’t suppose I
absolutely need to advertise that my work is silver, but I would
like to leave some kind of signature on it. Can I do this legally
without some sort of registry? What’s a good way to do this,
particularly with necklaces and bracelets? Are small objects, such
as ear rings, a write-off where this is concerned? What’s the best
compromise between easy identification and space concerns?
I am in the process of undergoing application for a trademark in
Canada. Here is a link to accurate info. regards precious metals
marking and stamping in Canada :
Basically, if you want to mark the metal content on your work it has
to be accompanied with a trademark which you must search and
register. This will cost you apx. $300.00. Not bad when you
consider that your only ongoing cost for this will be to re-register
your trademark annually for apx $100.00/yr.
There are many good reasons for these regulations - protecting the
consumer against fraud being the most important.
If you do not mark metal content on your work you do not require a
trademark. I have signed pieces - this is acceptable.
I've been speaking with another jeweler who works in silver,
and she told me that getting the registered hallmark and licensing
to stamp.
I am now going through the same process as your are. I obtained
excellent from a government agency here in Canada, but
unfortunately I don’t have the documents at the moment. Try googling
“CIPO” as this is the acronym of the agency.
My reading of the documents indicates to me that if a person
intends to stamp the quality of the metal, then that person must
have a regestered name/mark. In addtion, I almost bought a stamp
with the name “sterling” and the store owner kindly said to me that
I had to have my mark registered first; else I could get into big
trouble.
I believe that it costs $150 for the search and the registration. It
is even more expensive to have one do the search for you. However,
the database is on line allowing one to do one’s own search. I
wanted to create a mark with a “dp” and discovered quite quickly
that my idea had already been registered. So it is well worth doing
at least the prelimary search by oneself.
Please contact me offline if you require additional
David Popham
I don't suppose I absolutely need to advertise that my work is
silver,
You might want to rethink that idea if you sell on the internet. If
I see an item on a website that doesn’t say what metal it is I find
another website. I want to know if the item is sterling, plated or
what. Most consumers I know are the same way.